YuGiOh! The Lords of Duel: Into the Fey
by venheart
Summary: It's been two months since the Ceremonial Duel with Atem, and Kaiba is holding a new tournament, the World Championship. Duelists new and old come from around the world to see who is the best, until things go horribly wrong. 4 OCs and Yugi are the MCs
1. The Fire of New York City

**This story is centered more around my 4 OCs, the cast of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime do have important roles, and will communicate with the OCs. I always liked reading dueling fics that are crossovers so you see how other characters duel, but I couldn't think of a crossover I really wanted to do, so I made my own characters.**

**The story takes place after the Ceremonial Duel between Yugi and Yami, so there will be no Yami versions of the characters in this fic, the antagonists are all original.**

**I welcome constructive criticism, so feel free to give your honest opinions.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! This story is purely fan fiction.**

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><p>Invitations Part 1: The Fire of New York City<p>

_In New York City..._

Without much warning that day, one 17-year-old would get a letter with incredible news, and her name was Annie Erild. Standing at 5 foot 8, she wasn't too tall or too short, just the perfect height in her opinion, and her features were nothing to laugh at. With smooth, lightly tan skin, bright blue eyes, semi-curly light brown hair (of which she usually had in a half-to-the-side ponytail), beautifully done make-up, and designer wardrobe, this girl brought a whole new style to Duel Monsters. While walking back to her parents' apartment from the building's mail room, she couldn't help but tear open the envelope stamped with the official Kaiba Corp. insignia. She read the entire thing twice while in the elevator, the second time was to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

_Dear Miss Erild, Annabelle,_

_As you may know, next month is the first official Duel Monsters World Championship, the tournament that will declare the world's greatest duelist. As the holder of the Northeastern United States Regional title, as well as the New England Champion Duelist title, you are hereby granted a place in this tournament. If, for whatever reason, you are not interested in participating, please contact us immediately by our Customer Service number, or E-mail, otherwise your plane ticket, tournament entry pass, as well as your travel instructions will arrive within the next couple weeks. I hope to see you next month in Domino City._

_Sincerely, Seto Kaiba_

Annie practically squealed with joy at the letter while simultaneously texting her best friends the grand news. She knew every challenge up till now was to prepare her for this championship; She was going to take the World Champion title just like she took the New England title only one year ago. She remembered that final duel like it was yesterday.

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><p>There she stood, in the New York City duel stadium, with hundreds of people watching as she stepped up to the dueling field, her duel disk ready for action. A slightly younger boy stood across from her, and in Annie's perspective, the last thing standing between her and that trophy.<p>

The referee shouted, "Begin!" while the two duelists declared the familiar words, "Let's Duel!"

**Annie (4000) / Boy (4000)**

"I'll start," declared the boy, "And I'll Summon my Giant Rat** (1400/1450) **to the field in attack position!" he called out while a massive, dark-furred rat screeched.

"Gross..." she said with little enthusiasm, "Know what I say about rodents like that? Crush 'um. And that's just what I'm about to do, cause I'm summoning my Fire Kraken **(1600/1500)** in attack as well." the flaming squid-like creature appeared while Annie placed the card onto her duel disk, "Now... destroy that rat for me."

The duel monster opened its beak-like mouth and exhaled a wave of fire with incinerated the rodent monster, dropping the duelist's life points to 3800.

"My monster might be destroyed, but his effect will let me summon another monster in his place, so long as its an Earth monster with 1500 attack points or less."

"Lot of good that will do." she remarked, while checking her nails as if she were bored with the duel already.

"Maybe you wont be so cocky when I pick my monster. I'm special summoning Chu-Ske the Mouse Fighter **(1200/0) **to the field."

"I'm shaking..."

"Well you will be, cause now I have a monster to tribute, and I can summon my Twinheaded Beast **(1700/1900)**." the boy gave a grin while his two-headed flaming beast rose from the hologram.

"At least it isn't a rat this time." she remarked.

"Joke all you want, but this monster's going to take down your life points! I'll equip him with the Beast Fangs magic card, raising his attack to 2000, and now he'll destroy your monster."

The two headed monster charged Annie's kraken and ripped through it with brute force, dropping her life points to 3600.

"And he can attack twice per battle phase. Your life points are about to drop even further." The monster struck her directly, and her life points fell even more, stabilizing at 1600. "Not so strong now, are ya!"

"Oh, and our competitor, Annie, took a big hit to her life points, but she doesn't seem to be phased at all!" called the announcer.

"Please, try trash talking someone you can actually beat. Now, since it's my turn again, I'll play a magic card called Chosen One. Basically, I choose three cards from my hand, one monster, and two non-monsters," As she explained the details, a strange spinning top appeared, and three cards faced down circled the top. "Now, you have to pick one, if its the monster, I can special summon it, if it isn't, all three are destroyed.

With a bit of nervousness, the duelist picked the card to his left, revealing a magic card, Dragonic Tactics. "Ha! Too bad for you." he matter-of-factly grinned.

"Who said I wanted you to pick the monster?" the brunette gave a cheeky smile while crossing her arms. Annie had her opponent exactly where she wanted him.

"What!"

"Yup, you see, the monster I'll be sending to the Graveyard with my two spell cards is called Darkblaze Dragon. I'm going to use Monster Reborn to bring him back from the grave. And when he is special summoned this way, his attack and defense double. **(2400/2000)**" With the help of the magic card, a large black and red dragon with four wings rose to the field with a loud roar, causing some of the audience to "ooh" and "ahh".

"Oh crap..."

"You bet your duel disk, 'Oh crap,' because I still have a normal summon, so welcome my Divine Dragon Ragnarok **(1500/1000)**." Alongside her Darkblaze Dragon rose another dragon, this one white in color with lighting around its body.

"Double crap..."

"Now Darkblaze Dragon, eliminate the competition." With the order, black flames immediately poured from the dragon, engulfing the twin-headed beast and taking 400 more life points out of Annie's opponent. "And just so you know, when Darkblaze Dragon destroys a monster, you take more damage based on the attack of your monster." 2000 more points came from his life points, leaving him with only 400 left. "And now that you're wide open, my Divine Dragon can attack as well."

Just like that the duel was over.

"And the winner is... Annie Erild!" declared the referee, and the crowd cheered.

Annie simply smiled white nonchalantly rubbing her nail against her sleeve to shine it.

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><p>The duel was a piece of cake, not because the opponent's were pushovers, (although that didn't stop Annie from thinking they were), she had the skills of a world class duelist. Duels came easy to her, and she assured herself already that the trophy and World Champion title were hers.<p>

**9**

**Short Chapter,** **Just an introduction so sorry if it feels like its running fast. Believe me I plan to take a lot of time with this, and the plot goes through several fun changes, I've planned it all out... mostly...**

**So of the 4 Originals, your first is Annie... Let me know what you think of her. Even though she is the first of my OCs to make an appearance, she isn't the "Main Character" more than the other 3. All 4 will be sharing the importance, though I may make certain ones star during certain points of the story.**

**Fun Fact: (Every chapter I'll have a fun fact or two about the story written here. There will always be at least 1 fact per chapter, and it's meant to give you some back story on characters as well as the writing of the fiction.)**

**I originally wanted to have the story take place before Atem leaves Yugi, but after the Waking the Dragons Arc; however, there's virtually no time period where that could happen, as the anime's timeline just doesn't have space in between the arcs at that point, so I had to change it to after Atem left.**

**Annie was the first character I named, designed, and created, but the last character I built a deck for (of the main 4 I mean). I did, however, know I wanted her to have a lot of FIRE monsters as soon as I finished creating her. There's your first hint to her deck, but she has more than just that up her sleeve.**


	2. Lovely Miss Lily

**Second Chapter, not much to say really. A little less action with our second hero but that won't be for long. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! This story is all fan fiction.**

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><p>Invitations Part 2: Lovely Miss Lily<p>

_In Las Vegas, Nevada..._

The second duelist to receive Kaiba's invitation letter was a 16-year-old girl by the name of Lily Glada. She was an elegant girl standig at 5 foot 5, with a natural kind of charm. Her straight blonde hair flowed a little past her shoulders, and her coffee colored eyes gave out a comforting warmth, so-to-speak. Her skin was a little pale, and it wasn't perfect as she had a scar on her forehead and a smaller one by her lip, but she was comfortable with her appearance and that's all that really mattered to her, and that's really what gave her her charm.

It was earlier that day where she opened the seal. It was her title of the Southwestern United States Regional and the fact that she was runner-up in last year's National Championship that earned her a space in his tournament. Even though Lily wasn't that much of a competitive duelist, the game was her passion, and to take part in such a marvelous event gave her excitement and adrenaline. (That and she would actually get to meet Yugi Muto. Why wouldn't the King of Games himself take part in that competition?)

She was sitting in a Starbucks downtown with one of her best friends having her buttered croissant and espresso while explaining the news.

"So yeah, I'll get to go to Japan next month. I hope I get some time before hand to go sight seeing."

"I wish I could go with you and cheer you on," her friend, Emilie, pouted.

"You can cheer for me from here. As long as you believe in me, I'll feel the love you send."

"Well I'll make sure to send twice as much incase any gets lost in the shipping." she joked. "But seriously, maybe we should go card shopping and see if we can find you some strong cards. You'll need all the help you can get going up against the best of the best."

Lily sipped on her espresso a bit before agreeing. "Right, we can head to the card shop now, it's just a couple blocks over."

After finishing their coffee, Lily grabbed her croissant and the girls headed out the door. She took a bite before continuing their conversation. "I wonder what kind of decks I'll be up against."

"Who knows. But you've had to deal with some really difficult ones in the past, remember that Caesar Palace Tournament?"

"Yeah... down to 300 Life points and no monsters on the field. Not only that but the other girl still had almost all her life points. If it wasn't for my Blossom Bombardment trap card, I wouldn't have been able to end the duel when I needed to." she remembered, munching on the last bits of her croissant.

"Right, so we have to make sure you're loaded with all the best cards. There's going to be plenty of duelists from all around the world with different styles, so you have to have a counterattack for all of them."

"If only it were that easy..."

Is was about then that they arrived to the front of the comic store, Lily's favorite one to go to cause of the store owner, Andrew her neighbor.

"Hey girls, what brings you in today?" he said to them from behind the counter.

"Lily here got invited to Seto Kaiba's World Championship!" Emilie shouted with glee.

"No joke! I told you before, you're a special duelist, Lil."

"Thanks Andrew," she blushed. Truth be told she had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on the man, as he was quite the handsome young man, even if he was 11 years older than her.

"I suppose you'll want some cards then?" he said, motioning his hand to the duelist pack rack. The girls picked out a couple structure decks as well as a few boosters, while Andrew gave them the store discount, as well as a bonus pair of rare cards. He called it a reward for being invited to such a big event. The pair couldn't wait to check out their new cards and started opening the packages immediately.

"Let's see here..." Emilie began, "Bubonic Vermin... Dancing Elf... Hunter Dragon... Want a Big-Tusked Mammoth?"

"No thanks, at least not in my immediate setup."

Andrew picked out a card from the pile, "Hammer Shot can come in handy." Emilie nabbed it from his hand before Lily could even get a look.

"Says here that you can destroy the monster with the most attack points with this card." she smiled, "Think of how helpful that can be in a tight situation."

"Yeah, I'm also liking this Hardened Armed Dragon."

"Since when do you have dragons in your deck?" her friend asked.

"Since I found one with an effect like this. If its used to tribute summon another monster, that monster becomes immune to card effects. I wont have to worry about any nasty traps like Mirror Force."

"Ohhh, I see what you're getting at. You could really mess someone's strategy with that." Emilie spoke while looking through more cards, "Oooo! a Metalzoa, don't mind if I take this one?"

"But you don't have a Metalmorph." Lily added.

"Neither do you." Emilie returned.

"Girls, no fighting over a card." said Andrew, casually. They laughed a bit before bringing the cards into a pile which Lily placed in her purse.

"Well, I should get back, the folks will be home soon and I need to tell them the news."

"I need to get going to... But I'll be over later so we can practice dueling with your new cards." Both girls shared a laugh before saying goodbye to Andrew and leaving the store and parting from each other as well.

_Domino City... _Lily thought, _I can't wait to get there._

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><p><strong>Now you've met Lily, seems like a nice girl, right? Annie and Lily are the female side of the team, next are the guys, and boy are they two opposite sides of the spectrum... Well, that's for next chapter, stay tuned.<strong>

**Fun Facts:**

**Lily was the last character I created. Before I planned her background I intended to give her a deck based on gambling with more original cards as it fit the theme of Vegas, but when I planned out her history I wanted to give her a deck that really spoke her story. What's that story? you say? Gotta keep reading to find out.**

**If you noticed there was a little hint of Yugi fandom in Lily... Like with my gambling deck concept, she was originally meant to be a major Yugi fan-girl, but when her personality mellowed out a little it seemed out of character to have her go apeshit to meet Yugi, which was the original plan. Now she just admires his talents and wishes for a duel against him.**


	3. So Much Excitement

**Welcome to the third introduction for our next main character!**

**Sorry if these are a little short and to the point, but as soon as I finish these 4 intros, consider that the REAL beginning of the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters, just my original characters.**

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><p>Invitations Part 3: So Much Excitement<p>

_In Jacksonville, Florida..._

"All right, guys, class is over." called a young man to a group of kids and teens. This young man Dylan Degaft, was also the third American duelist mailed an invitation to Kaiba's World Championship, though he didn't know that just yet. He is 17, getting closer to 18 an was a bit tall, standing at 5 foot 11. His short black hair is neatly combed, his bright blue eyes are clearly visible, while freckles cover his face and arms. An overall attractive young man, who had just ended his dance classes, where he works with a group of students who teach ballroom dance to kids at some of the middle and elementary schools as part of their club.

"Another tiring day..." yawned his dance partner, Ellie.

"Still having those sleeping problems?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh you know me... Just trying to get through the night half the time."

"I don't know how you can't sleep. Between the club, the lessons, preparing for the talent show, my last break-up, getting enough hours at work, finishing homework..."

"Alright, I get it, you're busy." she casually interrupted.

"Well, I'll be getting a break soon, hopefully." he gave a big smile. "But its just these last few weeks have been rough for me. The fact that I get to lay on my bed at all these days amazes me. And then I'm out like a light." at that note he let out a yawn while leaning his head back into his hands.

Dylan felt his phone vibrating in his pocket before fishing it out and reading the caller ID; it was his sister. "Hello?"

"Dylan, oh... my... goshguesswhat'sinthemail!" she sounded like they just won a check for a million dollars.

"What! What's in the mail? Why so excited."

"Because! You have a letter from Seto Kaiba! THE Seto Kaiba!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!" she squealed. "Do you have any idea what this means!"

"Shut up! You don't think..."

"Oh I think..."

"Well open it!" he was almost bouncing on his heels with excitement.

"Ohhhhh my gooooshh!"

"What!"

"You're going to Domino City!" at that moment she and Dylan let out a scream of excitement, leaving Ellie looking confused.

"What's going on!" she asked, still looking baffled.

"Omigosh, I'm coming home right away!" he said to his sister before hanging up immediately. "I'm going to Domino City!" he practically tackled her into a hug and was jumping up and down, taking her along with him.

"As in Domino City, Japan!" she coughed out, being caught in a bear hug.

He settled down a bit enough to stop jumping and release his friend. "Yes, Japan! And I'll bet you anything I'm going to be in the Duel Monsters World Championship!" at this point he grabbed his bag and was almost out the door already. "I gotta get home immediately and see what the letter says!"

"Well wait for me!" Ellie called out, switching from her dance shoes to her sneakers as fast as she could and gathering her things before they ran out of the gymnasium.

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><p>Dylan Practically burst through the apartment front door with Ellie following behind. "Katie, I'm home!" he called to his sister, who walked out of the other room, and gave another scream, still in excitement about the invitation. Her scream was rewarded with another from Dylan as they bear hugged each other; Ellie could only stand back and watch in amusement.<p>

"You have to read the letter!" Katie exclaimed, pointing to the kitchen counter.

Immediately he swiped the mail from the countertop and skimmed through the message.

"As the holder of the Southeastern United States Regional title you are hereby granted a place in this tournament. AHHHHH!" he yelled in excitement. "Oh... my... GOD! I only have a month to prepare!" Dylan literally ran to a hall closet where he managed to pull a suitcase from the top shelf, taking several boxes and bags with him, which he completely ignored. "I need to start packing right away, where's my toothbrush!"

"Is he always like this?" Ellie commented, noticing him run around like a decapitated chicken.

"Only when he's nervous."

"Katie, have you seen my deck!" Dylan called with his head under the couch, searching.

"Have you checked your room?"

"Great idea!" and he charged off.

"You're not going to stop him?" questioned Ellie.

"Nah, I'll let him cool down a little, it will save me some trouble."

"Well, I guess I'll head back home. Later, Katie. Bye Dylan!"

"This deck needs serious updates! There's no telling what kind of duelists I'll be up against. I still need to pack some clothes, what's the temperature like in Japan. One or two pairs of sneakers should do. I need to go get..."

"Love you too." Ellie remarked before heading towards the door, "good luck taking care of him for the next month!"

And with that, she left the apartment.

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><p><strong>I feel like these intro chapters are getting shorter and shorter... oh well, they aren't meant to be that long anyway. Anyway, Dylan, first to be introduced of the two males, I hope he didn't come off as too crazy... just a little OCD, ADHD, the usual...<strong>

**Fun Fact:**

**Dylan was the third character I created and designed given a very difficult concept of a deck I needed to create, but I'll go more into his deck later. He was named after a friend of mine who I also used as inspiration on his appear but he has the personality that fits another friend of my more, making him the character with the least raw original concepts. Annie is the one with the most, being 100% original to me, as I'm not close friends with anyone like her, nor do I know anyone that looks like her.**

**As I was writing this chapter, he became more spastic than I originally considered, but I liked it so I kept it. He was supposed to be a little more flamboyant without being flaming gay.**

**Only 1 more chapter of introductions and we can get started on the real story! Stay tuned.**


	4. A Wish

**Thanks to the few early subscribers for finding my story and liking it already, I wasn't expecting anyone to read this till I had a few more chapters. I hope not to disappoint you guys.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters in it.**

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><p>Invitations Part 4: A Wish<p>

_In Seattle, Washington..._

He had only just turned 16, the fourth and final American duelist to receive an invitation to the World Championship. His name was Lucas Oslan, and ever since he got that letter, unlike everyone else, had mixed feelings about returning to dueling. Lucas was a bit short, only 5 foot 3, had short caramel-brown hair that hung over his forehead, nearing his emerald eyes. He was a pale kid too, even though he spent lots of time outside in parks or at the zoo.

There were two things Lucas always kept with him. The first was his sketchbook, which if he wasn't carrying it with him, was in his bag as well as at least one pencil. The second was his deck. Lucas hadn't dueled in almost a year, for his own reasons, but he continued to hold onto his deck as it was something precious to him, much more than playing cards.

Today was no exception for his things, and in fact, he had both out on his lap, looking from one special card to the paper of which his pencil made work. The tip of the graphite dancing around the page, getting the ears just right, as well as the face which had an expression Lucas was quite familiar with. This card was his favorite, but if you asked why, he wouldn't tell you, not at first anyway. Only one other person knew why he held that card so close to his heart, but after their last encounter, he wasn't sure if he ever wanted to duel again. It was a bit sad that it had been so long since he'd seen her.

He looked down to the drawing, then to the card, "Oh Lumi... I just don't know if I should..."

Anyone that would look at him would think he was talking to the card, but it was more than that.

"But I know you want me to return, I can feel it."

Gently, he returned his deck to his bag, as well as his incomplete sketch, and he stood from the grassy ground. The park was nice, but rain was coming, and the last thing he wanted to worry about was getting wet.

"I guess I couldn't stay away from dueling forever..." he whispered.

And with that, he returned for home.

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><p><strong>Wow... what a short chapter... I'm making a promise to myself never to let any future chapter be so tiny. But, in retrospect I really don't want to go too much into Lucas right now, he's a more complicated character and I don't want to reveal a whole lot about him yet.<strong>

**Fun Fact:**

**Lucas was the second character I created, and I quickly fell in love with him and his concept, which is why I'm being protective about his past for now, I want it to be more surprising.**

**Lucas' deck has gone through the most drastic change from start to finish, unlike the other characters who had a few changes in their decks here and there, but kept the overall concept.**

**As I said, I'm sorry this is tiny, but next chapter will be long, cause everything starts then. Stay tuned!**


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